Marion Halligan returns to her heartland: the literary novel.

It’s Paris. Fanny and G rard fall in love in a way that surprises even them as their lives fill with good sex and loving companionship. But they long for a child to complete their happiness. Two of Fanny’s lesbian friends feel similarly driven by the need to have a child. But how to make that possible?

Jean-Marie is an internationally regarded professor of philosophy whose adoring female students are willing sexual partners fulfilling the tenets of his libertarianism. But perhaps philosophy can’t bear the weight of human emotion.

When G rard buys a beautiful old house in the suburbs, the disturbing contents of the attic bind the stories in an intriguing and darkly disturbing knot. WC

Valley of Grace is a lyrical work full of hope and children, written by one of Australia’s most loved novelists at the height of her literary powers. Savour this book.

‘. Cracking with life and mortality . Halligan’s magical word pictures have that serene intensity that is now her trademark.’ Robert Dessaix